| THEHARE | Slow and steady wins the race was the moral of Aesop's fable, The Tortoise And ... (3,4) |
| ANT | Aesop's fable The ___ and the Grasshopper |
| HARE | Race loser of Aesop's fable |
| AESOP | Writer of the fable "The Tortoise and the Hare" |
| THERACE | Proverb derived from the moral of one of Aesop's fables (4,3,6,4,3,4) |
| SLOWAND | Proverb derived from the moral of one of Aesop's fables (4,3,6,4,3,4) |
| CATSPAW | Breeze forming ripples on the water's surface; a cow-hitch- or lark's-head-like knot; or, derived from a fable, the dupe/pawn of another (4-3) |
| SERPENT | Aesop fable: the _ and the Eagle (7) |
| AINTREE | At which course, noted for its horse races, was the British Grand Prix held in 1955, 1957, 1959, 1961 and 1962? (7) |
| TORTOISES | 'Slow and steady wins the race' creatures |
| TIMEWAITSFORNOMAN | "Slow and steady wins the race, but ..." |
| MORAL | 'Slow and steady wins the race,' for one |
| MESSAGE | Moral of the story |
| SLOW | "... and steady wins the race" (4) |
| RACE | "Slow and steady wins the ___" |
| TAG | A flap of a slashed garment; a tie-on label; a game of chase; a trite quotation; or, the moral of a tale (3) |
| STEADYWINS | Proverb derived from the moral of one of Aesop's fables (4,3,6,4,3,4) |
| ASHE | One-named US singer of the hit 2019 single Moral of the Story (4) |
| YELLO | Swiss electronic duo whose 1988 single 'The Race' was a top ten hit in the UK (5) |
| MOLAR | The moral of backbiting (5) |
